Friday, December 30, 2016

As we wrap up 2016
it's the perfect time to reflect on happenings/events of the year as
well as one's successes and even areas to focus and improve on moving
forward. Vino Travels will be going on the 4th year in
2017 and I am proud to say it's been a long journey with much more to
come.

Vino Travels continues to grow and expand. I started contributing articles to a couple new magazines including L'Italo Americano and Primo Magazine. I continue to be a contributor to Snooth with an amazing bunch of wine writers and connoisseurs. Our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group has grown to over 350 facebook members and continues to expand our network of Italian lovers as well as fantastic monthly features region by region. With great gratitude and honor, my blog was listed as one of the top 100 wine blogs. Lastly, I've been marketing my first book, Planning Your Dream Wedding in Tuscany, with some sales within the US and the Europe.

Hopefully you've been following my journey throughout the
year, but here is a glimpse into the top 10 blogs of 2016. I'd love
to hear your favorites or even what you'd like to see more of in
2017.

Friday, December 23, 2016

The holiday season
is upon us and for any last minute Christmas shoppers it's time to
hurry up and make those last minute purchases and get those elfs to
wrap those presents quickly! Amidst all the madness, it's also time
to sit back and relax. I have some holiday wine and/or food
recommendations from our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group
(#ItalianFWT) that are the perfect way to get you started. Enjoy!

I've
read about Il Paese
del Natale
(Christmas Market) in the delightful
town of Sant’Agata Feltria, in Le Marche. I'm fascinated
by the wonder of the village as it turns into a holiday fantasy.
Traditional Advent food such as chicken stuffed with chestnuts
are served in restaurants and stalls. I'd love to sample the foods
with a bottle of Vigneto Contrada Vallone – Rosso Piceno
D.O.C. from Rio Maggio, born in Le Marche vineyards. Made of
Montepulciano and Sangiovese, this wine brings Italian spirit to
Christmas celebrations! Buon
Natale
from Jill at L'occasion.

Sparkling wine
always brightens up the holidays, and you don't see sparkling
Nebbiolo every day. We pair it with Acciughe al Verde (Anchovies in
Green Sauce), a traditional Piemontese apertivo or primo course. The
sparkling wine freshens your palate after a bite of all that garlicy,
anchovy flavor.

Struffoli
is a favorite of mine - sweet and delicious. Here's a photo and a
link to a friend's struffoli
recipe. Michele is a wonderful chef and the wife of wine writer
Charles Scicolone.

Ishita of ItalophiliaMerry Christmas everyone! Buon Natale a tutti!
As this year draws to an end, let's send each other good vibes and happy
thoughts. Thanks to Italy for being our love and passion that makes us
connect everyday virtually. Lets make the most of it and hope to see you
somewhere in Italy in 2017!

One
of my favorite regions in Italy is Piedmont, aka Piemonte, located in
northwestern Italy. The barbera grape is widely planted in this
region and I loved one I tried recently, 2013 Castello di Neive Santo
Stefano Barbera d'Alba. Nice structure, acidity and fruit. Salute!

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Ti's the season
and we're in the midst of the holidays. If you're still in shopping
mode andhave a winelover on your list, here are some Italian wine
book selections that are the perfect gifts to consider. Of course you
can read all these great books, but there is nothing like combining
it with wine to fully comprehend it. That's the best way to
learn....drink, drink, drink!

My trusty Italian
wine resource has always been Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch's
Vino Italiano The Regional Wines of Italy. It's an easy to read book
where each chapter features a different wine region within Italy.
Each chapter talks about their personal experiences traveling through
that region including a recipe of local cuisine, recommended wines
from that region found in the US, reds, whites, sparkling and dessert
wines if they exist, maps and some suggested destination spots.
Plenty of fun to explore in each chapter to give you that sense of
place.

The next book,
Grandi Vini an opinionated tour of Italy's 89 finest wines is another
one I have come to enjoy. This is another book written by Joseph
Bastianich and is a lot different than the others I'm sharing today.
As the name suggests, it shares 89 wines from Central Italy, The
Islands, Northeast Italy, Northwest Italy and Southern Italy and the
mezzogiorno. It gives background on some of the top wines and their
respective producers from each region with some other added tidbits
on those regions, grapes and terroir. When learning about any wine
from an area, having a perspective on the top players and their
history and traditions in winemaking helps one have a deeper
understanding of that particular area and this book does just that.

Lastly, a fellow wine
lover I've met virtually over the years, Bob Lipinski, shared with me
a couple of the many books he has written with Gary Grunner: ItalianWine NotesandItalian Wine & Cheese Made Simple 2ndEdition. One of the things I learned from when I got certified in
Italian wine is that there is a BOATLOAD of information on Italian wine and for the
average person it can be very overwhelming if you're just trying to
understand Italian wine in simpler terms. I got certified in Italian wine to increase my knowledge and specialize in it, but this
isn't everyone's goal and heck, I need to find books like the ones
that Bob wrote when it comes to understanding wines in the rest of the world in order to make it easy to understand.

Italian Wine Notes is a short book that simplifies Italian wine
including the different types of Italian wines, grapes, DOCG's, wine
laws, wine terminology and Italy's regions and the wines produced
within those regions.

As the name
suggests, the Italian Wine & Cheese book Bob wrote is primarily
based on wines from all regions within Italy and the cheeses produced
within all the regions of Italy from A to Z. There are plenty of
suggestions of which Italian cheeses to pair with which Italian wine
along with some fruit pairings too. So find your local specialty
cheese and wine shop and start playing around with the pairings.

There are others I
look forward to seeking out and reading and I'll share those
when I get around to purchasing them and reading them.

What have you
discovered for Italian wine books that you've personally enjoyed?

*Bob Lipinski's books were offered as a sample to read, but are my personal opinions. It doesn't cost you a dime if you decide to click the links to amazon to purchase the books, but it does support my efforts in writing and sharing all this information with you. Thank you in advance.

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Pinot grigio has
not always been a go-to when it comes to white wines for me, but if I
am going to drink one I always turn to northeastern Italy, in
particular the Alto Adige wine region. Pinot grigio unfortunately
has been tarnished from the days of when high quantity, low quality
pinot grigio were being produced. It still happens today, but there
are plenty of producers that are doing it right and creating some
beautiful wines that one shouldn't be shying away from.

I
recently sampled Peter Zemmer's
pinot grigio coming from the Alto Adige wine region, also known as
the South Tyrol or suditrol. This winery has been producing wines
since 1928 and is today operated by Helmuth Zemmer. Based in the
small town of Cortina I thought their website put it best by stating
“the fascinating interplay between tradition and innovation,
man and the surroundings, sense and sensuality finds expression in
the passion and sensitivity with which Peter Zemmer brings his wines
to life.”

You may say that
some of the names I just mentioned don't sound very Italian. This
region, along with others regions of northern Italy, border other
countries including Austria and Switzerland, so you'll see a lot of
germanic influences. In addition to Italian spoke here, many also
speak other languages with German being a strong second language
choice. You'll also see these influences present in the architecture
and design of some of the homes and building along with the food
itself.

In the Alto Adige
region it provides a mild, cool climate for grape growing with both
the alpine climatic influences as well as those of the Mediterranean.
With the fluctuations in temperatures from day to night, this helps
create wines with vibrant acidity and aromatic wines.

The 2014 Peter
Zemmer Pinot Grigio has an aromatic, floral nose while on the palate
it's well

balanced with nice crisp, acidity combined with notes of
lemon and pears and some salinity. Great overall body and mouthfeel.
Definitely holding true that my thoughts on the wines from this
region deliver more than just satisfaction. You'll see as well that
this bottle is a couple years old and it's always best to sample
these wines in their youth, but there was no sign of deterioration in
my glass! ABV 13.5%. SRP $16-17.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

We're quickly
approaching the end of another year and our Italian Food, Wine &
Travel (#ItalianFWT) bloggers are ready to share with you this month
a variety of Italian holiday wines, culinary traditions and holiday
and Christmas festivities found throughout Italy. This month I'm
focusing on the small region of Molise that never seems to get enough
attention.

Christmas Traditions in Molise

I don't know about
you, but I personally love this time of year. One of my favorite
things to do is partake in the festivities all around me whether it's
scoping out the houses with some of the best christmas light displays
while sipping some hot chocolate or maybe attending Christmas parades
and other local holiday events. Well Italy has many of it's own
traditions in each region and many of the towns within those regions
have special events that the local citizens hold dear to them.

In Molise
Christmas Eve is a big celebration for the locals. In particular, in
the town of Agnone, there is a celebration of the ndocciata,
torches. A bell is rung at St. Anthonys and bagpipers play and fill
the streets with music. A fan shaped variety of torches made of
pinewood are carried by those dressed in costume of all ages. The
event culminates at Plebiscite Square with a large bonfire, called
the bonfire of brotherhood, where the nativity is displayed. In the
town of Oratino, another event called La Faglia takes place where
they burn hundreds of candles into forming one candle. The candle is
carried through the town where it is lit on fire at the end at the
Chiesa Madre bell tower.

I recently had a
couple wines from Molise that I very much enjoyed. The 2014 Di Majo
Norante Terre Degli Osci Sangiovese I.G.T and the 2011 Di Majo
Norante Ramitello Molise. Di Majo Norante is located in Campomarino
in the district of Ramitello and has been producing wine since the
1800's. Helping craft wines of top quality they have seeked out the help of one of the top Italian wine consultants, Riccardo Cotarella, who consults wineries throughout Italy and the world.

The Di Majo
Norante Terre Degli Osci Sangiovese I found to be a great value wine.
With aromas of cherry and raspberry, this dry wine is easy and soft
with smooth tannins. SRP $9-10.

The 2011 Di Majo Norante Ramitello
Molise was my favorite of the two and had also been rated on the Top
100 in 2014 for Wine Spectator. It's sourced from the top grapes of the Ramitello vineyard with vines aging on average about 50 years old. It's a blend of mostly montepulciano with some aglianico grapes. A very powerful, complex wine with
spice and dark, black fruits. A wine that benefits from aeration for
sure. SRP $15.

Culinary Treats of Molise

Molise is known during Christmas time for calciuni. Calciuni are
sweet fritters that are filled mainly with chestnuts and almonds with
the addition of chocolate, honey and oranze zest sometimes.
Definitely a treat after a Christmas feast!

More Christmas and Italian holiday treasures to be discovered. Join my fellow bloggers below and if you catch us in time, chat with us live on Twitter this Saturday December 3rd at 11am EST #ItalianFWT.